Adding a UX String to My Development Bow

Being a good coder means delivering a good product – a usable and useful product. That meant
adding UX skills to my development skills so that my code delivers what users want.

What were your goals and motivations when you joined the IDF?

I'm a developer in a medium-sized business with a small software team. I've been asked to make
decisions on UI and user behavior that I had no previous training or experience with. It's become
clear to me that these decisions impact the quality of the code we produce; it isn't good code if
users don't use the features we create. I want to make tools that make life easier for people in
their day-to-day work.

How did the IDF help you with your career?

Introducing a new discipline to our planning sessions brought me the respect of my supervisor and the
executive team. I pitched analytics to examine current user behavior and where we losing people. I used
quick but effective user research (thanks to what I learned with the IDF) with our internal users to gain
insight and transform our perspective on those users. I've made strong professional bonds that have
cleared the way for further career advancement. In other words, I was once a programmer, now I'm a UX
developer unicorn.

What do you like best about the IDF? What have you learnt that changed your career?

The sheer volume of information and expertise is dizzying. The community is great and the staff is
responsive and phenomenal. The literature is also top notch but the nothing can compare to the sheer
amount and variety of what you can learn. The value is simply incredible.